"I want him to succeed"

That was a quote from one of my student's parents this afternoon.  She was apologizing for not staying on top of her son's practice time sooner -  really paying attention to what he was playing and making sure he worked through each lesson.  "Seven year olds should not come to piano lessons by themselves" was the mom's conclusion.   Then I had to apologize, as I had not communicated better nor expected more from parents.  She is right.  In order to succeed, a student really needs the parent playing an active role, at least in the first few months of lessons.  I think most post parents are willing to do this, realizing how much they're investing, but maybe they don't know how to, especially if they're not musically educated.  I am rethinking my studio policy, and considering requiring, to some extent, parents to over see home practice.  It's what to do for the student to succeed.  I am thankful for the wisdom of a parent!  This also came at a particularly discouraging time.  Two of my students had very bad attitudes at last week's lesson, and one family did not show up at all, and have not returned my phone calls.  I was seriously wondering why I am even teaching.  This week, the same two students had marvelous lessons, and I learned something from a mom.  (The other family still hasn't called back, but I have learned from them too: I need to change my payment policy!  If I collect at the beginning of the month, at least I won't have unpaid scheduled time.  The school of hard knocks....! )

Another Repertoire Gem

"Dream Echoes," by E.L. Lancaster in the Alfred Contest Winners Book 2. This is a very pretty piece that can be played freely, perfect for a young teen lady!  She's only starting her second year of piano, but has good control of moving around the keyboard and using the pedal.  She did a great job using expression.

Repertoire Gems

As I mentioned in my last post, I am looking for some exciting new solos to challenge my students with.  I hope to write down a few as they come along.  This week I had great success with "Dorian Tarantella" by Robert D. Vandall, found in the Myklas Contest Winners Book 2.  It contains lots of triads, broken and blocked, uses a full range of the keyboard, and is just a lot of fun to play!   My student was excited about it and wants to learn it for my studio recital at the end of the month.  Another student surprised me this week by bringing in a "fake book" she was working out of.  She managed to pick out the melody on her own and play all the chords in her left hand.  I haven't actually taught someone how to play this way yet.  I gave her some tips on playing chords in close position instead of always going to root position.  We'll see how it goes from here, but I was happy to see her applying what she knows to a new challenge!

Onward We Go!

Syllabus exams were last week, and I was pleased that all of my students easily passed.  The one critique the adjudicator had for me as a teacher was that the songs they played were too easy.  I have not been pushing my students the way need to be, and I am hoping to change that during my next year of teaching.  Even now as I consider new pieces for their repertoire, I think, wow, this stuff does look too easy, I can't believe I gave that to them!  I'm looking especially for pieces that contain a lot of expression and paint a picture.  Most of my students like "fast" music, so I'm looking for lively pieces that they can really pick up the tempo.  The greatest compliment I received from the adjudicator was that she appreciated the attitude of my students.  They all seemed happy  to be learning piano.  Even my student who told her he doesn't like piano was at least pleasant about it!  That was an encouragement to me to hear my students had a positive influence on someone else.